Australian pay-television operator Foxtel has said it is “confident” it will meet the conditions necessary to secure the latest tranche of a federal government grant designed to support the broadcast of under-represented sports.

The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications is set to examine Foxtel’s 12-month performance in July, before deciding whether to allocate the grant’s final instalment of A$7.5m.

Covid-19’s impact on the sporting calendar has called into question whether Foxtel will be able to meet the conditions necessary, but head of Fox Sports, Peter Campbell, has said it will pass the government’s final assessment as it has not only met but exceeded the 2019-20 benchmarks prior to the shutdowns caused by the pandemic.

He told the Sydney Morning Herald: “Fox Sports has worked hard over the past year to produce, televise and build audiences for women’s and under-represented sport in Australia, which have struggled to secure coverage on free-to-air television.

“The careers of many athletes in under-represented sports, particularly female athletes, have flourished as a result of the coverage.”

Campbell added: “Obviously Covid-19 is impacting all sport at present. We are confident that women’s and under-represented sport will be back and we can deliver strongly against the requirements of the grant again for 2020-21.”

The slew of media-rights deals agreed for the Korean K League ahead of its recent restart did not generate large revenues for international distributor Sportradar. But the league hopes to capitalise, in the years to come, on the boost to its profile, as one of the first competitions to restart after Covid-19-related shutdowns.

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